Gauchos go down 6-1 in loss to Arizona

Jan 23, 2010

Jan. 23, 2010

Santa Barbara, Calif. - As the UC Santa Barbara women’s tennis team continues their Arizona road trip, Sofia Novak continues to impress. After a tough match against the 58th ranked player on Friday, the sophomore came back Saturday to defeat the University of Arizona’s Natasha Marks, who is ranked 46th in the country. This is the second time Novak beat Marks this season, after she won their first matchup back in November, when Marks was ranked 29th. Novak was impressive on Saturday, winning in convincing fashion (6-0, 6-2).

The Gauchos were defeated 6-1 on Saturday, but the team continues to impress head coach Pete Kirkwood. “Every matchup was competitive,” Kirkwood said. “I’m happy with how we’ve been playing.”

Playing from the No. 2 slot, Natalia Lozano lost a close match against Arizona’s Sarah Landsman (7-6 (10-8), 6-3), while Asagi Onaga fell at the No. 3 position against Ariane Masschelein (6-4, 6-3).

After coming up victorious in her first collegiate dual match on Friday, Annabel Gledden could not make it two in a row, as she suffered her first set back against Alexandrina Naydenova (1-6, 6-2, 6-1), in the No. 4 position. Jordan Dockendorf was defeated at the No. 5 slot by Arizona’s Claire Rietsch (7-5, 6-1), and junior Tova Hausman, playing from the No. 6 spot, was beaten in three sets by Debora Castany (7-6, 5-7, 10-8).

After being swept in doubles action, the Gaucho coach was confident that the team would bounce back as the partners become more familiar with each other.

“Doubles is definitely something we want to work on,” Kirkwood said. “We have new doubles partners that haven’t played together, but we’ll get there.”

The Gauchos will take on Northern Arizona tomorrow, as they look for their first win of the season.